December082012

On an elementary conceptual level, this film reflects the multifaceted scientific hyperthinking that was typical of a Bell Labs approach. Host Dr. J.N. Shive's presence as a lecturer is excellent - it's understandable by a layperson even when he branches into equations, because he uses copious amounts of real-world examples to bolster the material.

Shive's role at Bell Labs was more than just a great lecturer: he worked on early transistor technology, inventing the phototransistor in 1950, and the machine he uses in the film is his invention, now called the Shive Wave Machine in college classrooms.

Dr. J.N. Shive of Bell Labs demonstrates and discusses the following aspects of wave behavior:

Reflection of waves from free and clamped endsSuperpositionStanding waves and resonanceEnergy loss by impedance mismatchingReduction of energy loss by quarter-wave and tapered-section transformersOriginal audience: college students

August242012

cf. WP (EN) - The Human Use of Human Beings is a book by Norbert Wiener. It was first published in 1950 and revised in 1954.

Wiener was the founding thinker of cybernetics theory and an influential advocate of automation. Human Use
argues for the benefits of automation to society. It analyzes the
meaning of productive communication and discusses ways for humans and
machines to cooperate, with the potential to amplify human power and
release people from the repetitive drudgery of manual labor, in favor of
more creative pursuits in knowledge work and the arts. He explores how
such changes might harm society through dehumanization or subordination
of our species, and offers suggestions on how to avoid such risks.

May072012

This is a card puncher, an integral part of the tabulation system used by the United States Census Bureau to compile the thousands of facts gathered by the Bureau. Holes are punched in the card according to a prearranged code transferring the facts from the census questionaire into statistics.